Between You and Me
by ItCanOnlyBeKailyn
Summary: Minerva Macy finds herself back in La Push after a nasty breakup, much to her dismay. As someone who'd never been the rez's biggest fan, Mini's dreading her time in the town. Throw in one hot headed werewolf with an imprint though and dread doesn't even begin to cover it. Paul/OC Rated M
1. Chapter One

**One**

How I found myself back in La Push after so many years was a mystery to me. The place still resembled the dump that I'd left when I was sixteen and if I'd had it my way, I would I turned my car around the moment I passed into city limits. But as it were, I didn't have a choice about being back on the rez.

My mom, bless her heart, had moved back when she and my dad had divorced a couple of years back. For awhile I'd managed to avoid coming back to the place, but after a recent breakup, I found myself broke and without a place to live. And as my dad was an asshole, my options had been limited.

So here I was, sitting on a porch in La Push with my mom and her boyfriend, a cup of coffee in my hands as I stared up at the silver ball of light in the sky. I suppose it isn't really so bad as I've made it seem, but as my ex boyfriend said, I'm a dramaqueen.

"It's so good to have you here, Mini," my mom sighed, smiling at me from her place at Gareth's side. I'd only known him for a few hours but I already liked him. It was obvious that he treated my mom far better than my dad ever had in their twenty years of marriage.

"I could say that it's good to be here, but then I'd be lying," I returned, earning myself a little glare and a smack on the back of the head. Laughing, I grinning and dried up a bit of coffee that had spilled with the edge of my shirt. "Only joking mother, you know there is no where else I'd rather be. La Push has a special place in my heart," I said in a tone thick with sarcasm.

"Really child, I've never understood what you have against this town. Your childhood wasn't as bad as you lead everyone to believe. The worst part of growing up was having your dad around and he's not even here. So why not try and enjoy it? Reconnect with old friends and get a job."

"There's an opening as a secretary at the dentist right here in town," Gareth said. "The dentist is a good friend of mine and I would be more than happy to put in a good word for you."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I've actually got something else lined up," I assured him. My mom lifted her brows at me, as if to ask Oh Really, so I went on. "When I knew I was going to be moving here, I went online and discovered that La Push was actually on the interweb. Anyway, I found a job as a librarian and I got the job after an over the phone interview. The lady was all too happy to offer me the job."

"Oh sweetheart, that's wonderful! You always used to spend most of your time there anyway and now you're going to be working there." My mom sounded so pleased that I bit my tongue when I really wanted to tell her that the only reason I'd spent so much time there was because I'd been making out with Luke Michaelson by the travel books. No one had ever gone near that corner. "When do you start?"

"Tomorrow morning," I replied, tossing my head back with a groan. Since I'd driven all the way from San Francisco, I wanted sleep, not a job. But I didn't have much of a choice because I had a meager sum of two hundred dollars left in my account.

My mom got up from her seat, closely followed by Gareth. She gave me a light kiss on my head. "In that case, better not stay up too much longer. Get a good nights sleep and if I don't see you in the morning, have a good first day of work. Goodnight darling." They passed me and went into the house.

I stayed up only long enough to finish my coffee before getting up and taking a moment to stretch. A sound from somewhere far off made me pause mid stretch and my head snapped toward the forest. Since when did La Push have fucking wolves, I wondered when I realized that it had been a howl I'd heard.

"I swear to God, if I wolf tries to eat me, I'm getting my ass out of here," I muttered as I trudged inside.


	2. Chapter Two

**Two**

When I woke up the next morning and I'd had my shower, I walked down stairs to the smell of something delicious. I followed my nose to the kitchen and was surprised to see not my mom but Gareth standing at the stove wearing a pink apron.

"My, don't you just look adorable," I said, laughing when he jumped. He turned toward me and smiled. I gave him a less enthusiastic one and slunk into the room, dropping into a chair at the table and letting my purse fall to the floor at my feet.. "That smells like heaven. What is it?"

"Blueberry pancakes cooked in bacon grease, a recipe that my mom passed onto me," he said and I groaned. Blueberry pancakes were my favorite breakfast food and cooked in bacon grease? Utter Perfection. "Your mom told me that you liked them, so I figured that I'd make them for your first breakfast in La Push."

He picked a plate up off the counter and I was salivating heavily by the time he set it down in front of me. His hand had hardly left the plate by the time I had a fork in my hand and I was devouring them. No syrup required, the butter he'd smothered on them was all that they needed to be perfect.

"Holy hell Gareth, these are amazing," I groaned with a mouth full of pancakes, totally uncaring if he thought I was a pig. Since the closest I came to being able to cook was putting a frozen meal in the microwave, I hadn't had anything so good in ages. "Careful man, if everything you cook is this wonderful, you may never get rid of me."

"Would that really be so bad? I know that your mom is happy to have you here and so am I," he assured me with a wink and a charming smile. It was no wonder my mom was in love with the guy, he was perfect and the polar opposite of my dad. Though I'd only seen them together for a few hours the day before, already I could tell that he was good for her. She'd smiled more than I'd ever seen her before.

"You're good for her, you know." His eyes met mine and he gave me a questioning look. Swallowing the pancake in my mouth, I explained. "When she was with me dad, she was miserable and dead inside. They were always fighting and it took a lot out of her, so much so that for while all she did was lay in her bed all day. But now that she's got you, she's back to the woman I knew as a little girl. It better stay that way too or no matter how well you cook, I'll break your legs."

Gareth smiled, but before he had a chance to reply, the front door was thrown open and the sound of deep laughter filled the tiny house. I glanced over my shoulder and nearly rolled my eyes when I saw three burly guys stomping through the living room. They looked just like the guys that I'd gone to high school with before moving and they sounded just as annoying as they did then.

"Hey man," one of the guys called to Gareth, batting away the fist one of his friends sent his way as though it were a fly. He was smiling broadly and had it not been quite so cocky, I might have found it adorable. "We're here to pick up that sofa you've got for Sam and Emily."

"Of course, it's just through there in the garage, but first let me introduce you to someone. Guys, this is Winnie's daughter, Mini and Mini these buffoons are Jared, Quil and Paul," he introduced and I had to force myself not to roll my eyes. I knew exactly who these guys were and it was amazing that I hadn't recognized them the moment they walked through the door. Of course it was La Push's own gang, still together it seemed.

I shoved the last bite on my plate into my mouth so I had an excuse not to speak for a couple of minutes at least. That didn't stop them though because I felt a pair of hot arms wrap around my waist and I was jerked from my chair.

"Jesus Quil, what the hell are you doing? Put me down," I cried and the food in my mouth fell out onto the floor. Obediently, my old friend set me back on my feet, a huge smile on his face. I tried suppressing my own smile, but it was impossible because despite the fact that a month before I'd moved he'd stopped hanging out with me, I loved the guy. "Fuck man, you look like a freaking giant. Have you been working out?"

"Not really, I'm just naturally this attractive now. And anyway, I'm pretty sure that you've shrunk since the last time I saw you," he said, his grin widening. I couldn't believe that I hadn't recognized him at once, with that smile on his face, he looked just like the kid I used to be friends with.

"That's not even possible, you idiot." Rolling my eyes, I turned away from him and toward the other two. I now remembered Paul Lahote and Jared Cameron from school, though I hadn't known them well. To me, they were simply Sam Uley's lackies. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Jared said, giving me a kind smile. He seemed alright, I decided and returned his smile with one of my own.

Then I turned to Paul, ready to give him the same smile, but when I saw his face, the smile dropped. His face was all scrunched up and his mouth was hanging open in such an unattractive way.

"What's your problem? Do I have something on my face?" I asked, my brows furrowing as I stared at him. He shook his head but his facial expression stayed the same. Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. "Then you should probably shut your mouth. Might start collecting flies or something if you don't. Well guys, it was great to see you but I should be off, don't want to be late for my first day of work."

"Have a good day," Gareth said, though he wasn't looking at me. In fact, no one but Paul looked at me as I grabbed my purse and headed toward the door. It seemed that I wasn't the only one to notice his strange behavior.

"I'll see you guys later," I said slowly. When I closed the front door, I could no longer see Paul, but I felt pretty sure that he was staring at the door. What a fucking freak.


	3. Chapter Three

**I just want to saw a quick thank you for the reviews, favorites and story alerts on the last chapter. You guys are awesome :D**

**Three**

"I'm sure you won't be terribly surprised to learn that we aren't usually busy during this time of day," the woman, Kim I believe her name was, told me and she was right, I wasn't surprised. When I was a kid at least, no one showed up at the library until after school to study because our school was too cheap to have a library, or they came to take advantage of the emptiness like I had. "So most of the morning is spent reshelving and watching the clock."

"Doesn't sound too hard. I think I might be able to get through it without messing up too terribly," I said jokingly and she smiled, which I took as a good sign. People didn't usually think I was that funny and when they did, I tended to like them.

"Let's start you off with these children's books over here," she said, leading me toward a rolling cart filled with books. Kim picked up one of the books and gestured toward the shelves. "They're rather easy to shelf, all done in alphabetical order. I'll be over at the counter and if you need anything, don't hesitate to come ask."

"I won't," I assured her, taking the book from her hand. She shot me a smile before walking off and leaving me to my job, which I found to be surprisingly fun. I'd assumed that shelving books would be a boring job and that the repetitiveness of the action would drive me crazy. Instead I found myself disappointed a couple of hours later when I'd run out of books to shelf.

Pushing the cart through the shelves, I made my way toward the front counter where Kim said she'd be. I was actually surprised that she hadn't come to check on me or something. Perhaps she thought that I was capable of doing a job without screwing it up. That would be a first, but the idea did make me happy.

When I reached the front of the library however, I realized that it might have been something else keeping her from coming to find me. Kim was sitting at one of the computer desks and there seated beside her was Jared Cameron. The two were holding hands and seemed to be having an important conversation. Because I didn't want to be the one to interrupt, I slowly began to turn around but I bumped my elbow into one of the shelves.

"Fucking shit," I hissed, closing my eyes in pain.

"Mini, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?" Kim came bustling toward me and when I opened my eyes, she was standing right before me and looking at me with concern. "Do you want ice? Jared can run and get you something if you want."

"It's only a little bump, I think I'll be alright in a minute," I assured her, rubbing my sore elbow and trying not to wince. So being stealth wasn't exactly my area of expertise, so I decided that I wasn't going to try to do that again. "Sorry to interrupt you guys. You looked like you were having a serious conversation."

"What? No, we just talking about a friend of ours and what he's been getting upto lately, no big deal," she said with a smile, then seemed to realize something. "Oh no, I haven't introduced you two yet. Mini, this is my husband Jared."

"We've actually already met this morning," I told her, earning wide eyes and an "Oh really?" Then she turned to her husband, who was looking at me with a kind of bemusement. I frowned slightly and kind of wanted to ask him what that was all about.

"Yeah, we did," Jared told her, turning his eyes lovingly toward her. "She lives over at Gareth's house now and happened to be around when Quil, Paul and I stopped by this morning. What a coincidence that she works here, with you, at the library."

I could have sworn that he put an emphasis on Paul's name, though I had no idea what for. Something seemed to register with Kim though and she was smiling at him, then at me and back again. There seemed to be something going on that I wasn't aware of and I didn't like that one bit.

Glancing down at her watch, Kim frowned. "Jare, you should really get going you know and Mini and I have plenty of work to do anyway. I'll see you tonight at Sam's," she said and he nodded, bending down to place a kiss on her lips. I looked away to give them privacy, but my brain was still trying to process what had just passed between the two of them. Obviously I had missed some important detail or other.

Jared called out a goodbye to me, but I just sent him a small wave. When he had left the building, I turned to Kim with a questioning look, which she promptly ignored. I suppose I shouldn't have expected answers from someone I'd only known for a couple of hours, though it would have been nice to know what was going on.

"Come on, let's get you something else to do," she said and I had no choice but to forget about the curious looks and hidden meanings because I was soon emersed once more in shelving Adult Fiction books.


	4. Chapter Four

**Four**

I never did get the chance to question Kim about the curious glance and obvious underlying message she and her husband had shared. As I got into my car after work though, I told myself that I needed to let it go, it wasn't any of my business anyway. Let them have their secrets and share as many looks as they wanted.

"How was work?" my mom asked when I walked through the front door. I shrugged, dropping my purse by the front door like I'd used to do with my backpack. It felt a little strange and I had a sense of deja vu, except that the role of my dad had been recast with Gareth in his place. That was a change I gladly welcomed.

"Where are you two going?" I eyed her stylish dress and sandals, which I wasn't at all used to seeing her in. When she'd been with my dad, the only time she'd ever worn a dress was to church and those dresses had been so modest that she'd looked like an old woman. Now she wore one that hit just below her knees and showed more skin than I'd ever seen her reveal before.

"Some friends of ours are having a barbeque. You should come, I know that they'd love to meet you and in some cases, see you again," she said, smiling as she clasped a necklace around her neck. Gareth came out of the kitchen then, a large bowl in each arm, added to my moms offer.

"Gale's been talking about you to all of her friends since she learned that you were moving in. Some of them remember you and are excited to see you again after all of these years. We don't mind waiting for you to get changed," he told me.

I mulled it over for a moment. If there were going to be people that used to know me at the get together, then I wasn't really sure that I wanted to go. Living in La Push hadn't been the greatest experience the first time around and since I'd looked like a fat cow as a teenager, I'd hate to have these people reminiscing. Then again, it might be nice to socialize with the inhabitants of the rez and show them that I wasn't the same anymore instead of letting them speculate. That might actually be worse, I decided.

"Sure, I'd love to go. I'll just change into something more appropriate and meet you guys in the car in like five minutes," I said, passing them and going to my room.

It took closer to ten minutes, but since I hadn't unpacked my stuff, I'd had to dig around to find something suitable. When my hands finally found a skirt, one of those "mullet" skirts as they were called, I slipped out of my work shirt and into a plain black tanktop. Groaning a little, I tucked my feet into some wedges and after checking my hair and makeup, I grabbed a jacket and ran out to the car.

The drive to my moms friends house wasn't terribly long, which wasn't a surprise. La Push wasn't exactly the biggest place in the world and so getting from one place to the next tended to be rather quick. That was one of the many things which hadn't changed since I'd left.

The car drove down a dirt road for a couple of minutes before turning into a gravel driveway. Already several cars were parked in the front yard and I could see smoke rising from the grill in the back yard. As I got out of the car and followed my mom and Gareth toward the house, the door was thrown open.

A woman with beautiful black hair and russet skin came waddling out onto the porch, hands resting on her swollen stomach. I quickly noted the faded scars that stretched down the side of her face and realized within seconds who she was. Emily Young, the girl who'd been mauled by a bear a few months before my family had moved. Though I'd never met her, everyone on the rez had heard about her injury and how her boyfriend, Sam Uley, had been devastated.

She seemed to be doing alright now though, I thought as I studied her smiling face, which was really quite pretty. The scars hadn't taken away her good looks and if anything, they made her look kind of fiercely beautiful.

"Gareth, Gale, I'm so glad that you guys could come, and this must be your daughter. Minerva, correct?" she said, smiling kindly at me. I wanted to roll my eyes, because of course my mom would use my full name when talking about me. "I'm Emily Uley."

"Call me Mini," I told her, returning the smile.

"Well come on in, everyones outback and I know they will be happy to meet you, Mini." Stepping aside, she let us all step into the house and while Gareth went with her to the kitchen, my mom pulled me out back.

"Come on darling, let me introduce you to my friends," she said, leading me through the yard. We stopped before an old man in a wheelchair with a cowboy hat on his head and an older woman with white braids dangling over her shoulders. "Sue, Billy, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Mini. Mini, this is Sue Clearwater and Billy Black, whom you might remember. You used to hang out with Billy's son I think."

"Jacob? Yeah, we shared a mutual friend and hung out sometimes. How's he doing these days?" I asked, not because I actually cared, but because it was the polite thing to do. "I remember that he was really into a girl from Forks. Did they ever get together?"

Billy's lips turned down slightly and his eyes darkened ever so slightly. "No. That girl went on to marry someone else and left my son heart broken," he told me and I felt immediately terrible for bringing it up. I opened my mouth to apologize, but he shook his head and the smile returned to his face. "It's alright though, he found someone else and now they're married and happy as any couple I've ever seen. Everything worked out for the best in the end."

"Well, that's nice." I felt awkward and was glad when my mom pulled me away to introduce me to other people, or rather reintroduce. Most of the people present were men and woman that I'd gone to school with or had been my neighbors growing up. Though I hadn't known them all well or anything, I could recall their names and at least one story relating with each of them.

When we reached Kim and Jared Cameron, my mom wasn't surprised to learn that I'd already reaquanted myself with the couple that day. She just smiled when I told her and said that she had some people she needed to talk to before abandoning me with them. I wasn't mad though because I actually liked them.

I talked to them for awhile, enjoying the conversation but when it was announced that the food was ready, I ran to the front of the line. Since I'd only eaten lunch out of a vending machine, I was monstrously hungry and I didn't even care how much of a pig I looked like as I towered my plate high with food. Gareth laughed at me as I passed him on my way back to my picnic table and I stuck my tongue out at him like a five year old.

Because of this I wasn't giving my surroundings my full attention, so when someone called out, "Paul, watch out!" my head snapped out in time to see a burly body come crashing toward me. I was thrown to the ground then, the plate flying out of my hands and gobs of mashed potatoes landed on my head. I groaned. "I really wanted to eat those."


End file.
